By Ewelina Lepionko
Master of the kaleidoscopic candy and the owner of the cheap pink world! Meet Lebanese visual artist Eli Rezkallah, who can now boast a shiny art empire to his name. A very busy man.
He grew up in the grasp of a country almost constantly at war, and that colored his entire approach to artistic expression.
“I grew up in Lebanon during the war, but we moved to an area where there wasn't a lot of bombing and lived there for 12 years,” he said to Scene Arabia.
The artist mentions in many interviews that Lebanon is not the easiest art market. From the biography on his official website www.elirezkallah.com, we learn that Eli started out as a fashion show producer and visual artist in Lebanon. But after years of working for others, Eli founded out that the only way for him to produce ideas that he liked was to create his own platform. This is how he becomes the founder and creative director of Plastik Magazine, the first visual publication in the Middle East and Plastik Studio.
His works are glistening. They are alive! His art borderline tacky, but artfully, often coating some kind of social commentary. Meticulous speak of women who want to run away from reality. This is how the artist remembers his mother and her friends (in his bio) who tried to live an extravagant life in uncertain Lebanon.
Beesline summer 2020 campaign
— Plastik Studios (@plastikstudios) September 6, 2020
Photography @Elirezkallah
Produced by @plastikstudios 2020 pic.twitter.com/I1IzQH87qP
Founded in 2007 edgy Plastik Magazine, Plastik Studios is a platform for young talents in which Eli uses to share his uncompromised vision with the world. His magazine and studio producing work unlike anything else that had emerged from the Middle East. Featuring drag queens, naked women, and oiled-up men. His work has resonated far beyond the borders of his home country. He wants to open a dialog and to show how Lebanon is different from the rest of the Arab world.
Anxiety and impatience Me 10 months into 2020 ? Photo credit @Elirezkallah who’s work has the charm of #edgardegas ‘s classical paintings, mixed with #lucienfreud ‘s controversial meticulous figurative representations & a touch of #vangogh ‘s mystery beauty and emotion. pic.twitter.com/4oZYAq709g
— Mariana (@Mgnsce) October 5, 2020
"I’ve never faced any sort of trouble or backlash in Lebanon because it's different [than the rest of the Arab world], it’s a lot more open-minded." - he said to Scene Arabia.
He focuses his favorite art pieces on evoking happiness because "we all need happy art right now."
